A Bad, Bad Place

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Don't miss the must-read debut of the year - a murder mystery unlike any other...

What happened to the dog walker who found the body?

Glasgow, 1979.

Twelve-year-old Janey won’t take her dog, Sid Vicious, for a walk. Not anymore. It’s Sid’s fault she found the murdered woman.

Janey claims she can’t remember what she saw at the abandoned railway, but the police think she’s hiding something. And they’re not the only ones interested.

Fear and rumour rip through the tight-knit community of Possilpark. Janey and her nana, Maggie, are dragged into the hunt for a murderer. And Maggie’s struggle to keep her beloved granddaughter safe becomes ever more desperate.

Because Janey’s memories can’t stay hidden forever.

And neither can the killer…

'Clever, honest, heart-rending.' Val McDermid

'Richly authentic, funny, moving and insightful.' Janice Hallett

© Frances Crawford 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

A moving evocation of working class lives. It’s clever, honest, heart-rending and funny too. It doesn’t shy away from the darkness but it also reveals the love and compassion that sustain people. And it’s wonderfully twisty too, giving our assumptions a good shake-up.
Val McDermid, international No.1 bestselling author of Past Lying
The very best writing can transport you through time and place - well A Bad Bad Place took me to Glasgow, to 1979 and to a young girl who discovers a brutal murder, the repercussions of which resound across a troubled community. It’s hard to believe this richly authentic, funny, moving and insightful story, beautifully written in local dialect, is actually a debut. Bravo Frances Crawford!
Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal
‘Gripping, gruesome, and so gritty you can smell it. A visceral and exciting debut.’
Belinda Bauer, bestselling author of Snap
A Bad, Bad Place will stay with me for a long, long time. The writing is raw and visceral, and the story richly layered. One to watch.
Jennie Godfrey, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things
'A Bad, Bad Place is a great, great book -- my favorite kind, in fact: the kind that illuminates the dark of the past by laying a bonfire of a story at its heart. Frances Crawford, the preternaturally gifted author of this magical new novel, works bright magic here; very rarely have I felt so transported by a story, or so enmeshed in a community of characters, bound by love and fear and language. Part To Kill and Mockingbird, part Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, part Louise Welsh, yet altogether incomparable.'
A. J. Finn, No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
I loved this book. Real people, their voices as true and unique as the time and place they inhabit. Twelve year old Janey Devine and her Nan are so real, the horror they find themselves in so terrifying, that it feels as though you’re there with them. I haven’t read anything quite as unique as this since Trainspotting.
Lin Anderson
A tense mystery that’s full of heart, warmth and humour, I adored this book. Janey Devine is one of my all-time favourite characters – an absolute triumph!
Andrea Mara
From the first couple of chapters, Janey and her fierce granny Maggie instantly had my heart. I loved the strong sense of time and place in Crawford's debut. The book says much about class, gender and society in 1970s Glasgow while also divining a balance between movingly poignant and blackly funny. It's a high-wire act that few seasoned writers manage to perfect. Propulsive, transportative and full of great twists, the way any brilliant crime novel should be.
Tanya Sweeney
This visceral debut is touching and darkly funny in exploring powerful themes like love and redemption in working class lives, with a character you'll adore in Janey. Crawford is one to watch.
Daily Mirror
Outstanding debut… it’s the unforgettable characters, sparkling dialogue and sharp wit that makes this an extraordinary and unmissable read.
Woman & Home

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